On the fourth anniversary of the 2022 Itaewon crowd crush, which claimed 159 lives during Halloween revelry in Seoul, a few seconds of real rescue footage have surfaced inside a video game. In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, a clip of a bystander performing CPR on a fallen victim appears within an invented North Korean invasion, and the people who lost loved ones that night have found the borrowing of their worst hours for entertainment hard to bear. The publisher says the images were meant only to lend realism to a fictional story, yet the question now hanging over the game is whether a story
Call of Duty Faces Backlash Over Real Itaewon Disaster Footage in Fictional War Opener
The 2022 Itaewon crowd crush killed 159 people, and families of victims say the reuse of rescue footage from the disaster is deeply distressing.
A few seconds of real-life tragedy
Mark
Why is three seconds enough to cause this much anger?
Mimi
Because of what those seconds show. It's not a generic crowd scene. It's a rescuer doing CPR on a real victim of Itaewon, and the families recognise it as their tragedy.
Mark
And the anniversary matters here?
Mimi
It does. The disaster happened on October 29, 2022, and 159 people died. The families issued their statement the day before the fourth anniversary.
Luke
Let's be careful about what's actually established. Do we know who filmed the footage or how Activision obtained it?
Mimi
No. The reporting only says Activision acknowledged that real news footage was used. The source of it isn't described.
Mark
What exactly is Activision saying?
Mimi
That the footage was meant to help convey the fictional story, not to reference or trivialise Itaewon or any real tragedy. They told Yonhap that.
Luke
That's a statement of intent, and it's the company's own account. It doesn't answer the question people are asking, which is whether it will be removed.
Mimi
Right, and the company hasn't said. The families' demand is still open.
Luke
Also worth noting, the details of the reaction come through The Korea Times and the families' joint statement. We haven't heard from individual relatives beyond that.
Il Polso
- A three-second clip of real CPR from the Itaewon disaster has jolted players straight out of the game's fictional war and into a national wound.
- Bereaved families and civic groups issued a joint statement condemning the footage and demanding its immediate removal, on the very day of the fourth anniversary.
- The sting lands hardest because the scenes show ordinary citizens desperately trying to save one another on cold streets, now repurposed as set dressing for a war game.
- Activision has answered only with intent, saying the footage was meant to convey the fictional narrative and never to trivialise a real tragedy.
- The removal demand remains unanswered, and the next signal will be whether the company responds directly to the families or alters the sequence in the released game.
On the fourth anniversary of the 2022 Itaewon crowd crush, which claimed 159 lives during Halloween revelry in Seoul, a few seconds of real rescue footage have surfaced inside a video game. In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, a clip of a bystander performing CPR on a fallen victim appears within an invented North Korean invasion, and the people who lost loved ones that night have found the borrowing of their worst hours for entertainment hard to bear. The publisher says the images were meant only to lend realism to a fictional story, yet the question now hanging over the game is whether a story's need for truth can justify taking grief from those who lived it.
For a few seconds in the opening cinematic of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, a rescuer kneels over a victim and performs CPR. Players in South Korea recognised the scene at once. It was not staged. It came from the 2022 Itaewon crowd crush, and the game had placed it inside an invented North Korean invasion meant to show the scale of an imagined attack.
The timing made the wound feel fresh. October 29 marks four years since 159 people died during Halloween celebrations in Seoul's Itaewon nightlife district. For the families who lost someone that night, seeing real rescue scenes reused as war-story material was deeply painful.
In a joint statement, the council representing bereaved families and a coalition of civic groups said they were appalled that scenes of citizens desperately saving one another had been used unchanged to build a game scene. They demanded immediate removal.
Activision has acknowledged that real news footage was used. It told Yonhap News Agency the material was meant to support the fictional narrative and was not intended to reference or trivialise Itaewon or any real tragedy. But it has not said whether the clip will be removed, so the families' demand remains open. What happens next depends on whether the company answers them directly and whether the sequence changes before release.
Roughly three seconds of footage have pulled Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 into a dispute that has nothing to do with gameplay. Players in South Korea noticed that a clip from the 2022 Itaewon crowd crush, showing a rescuer performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation on a victim, had been placed inside a cinematic about a fictional North Korean invasion.
The clip appears in the game's opening sequence, which uses news-style footage to establish the scale of the imagined attack. According to The Korea Times, the game first drew attention in South Korea because it depicts the country under assault by North Korean forces in a realistic way. That interest turned to criticism once players recognised the real scenes in a segment showing civilian casualties from the game's invented conflict.
The timing sharpened the reaction. Today, October 29, is the fourth anniversary of the 2022 disaster, which killed 159 people during Halloween festivities in Seoul's Itaewon nightlife district. For families who lost relatives that night, seeing actual rescue scenes reused as material for a war story was deeply distressing.
In a joint statement issued yesterday, the council representing bereaved families and a coalition of supporting civic groups condemned the footage and demanded its immediate removal. They said they could not help but be appalled that the chaotic, desperate scenes of citizens performing CPR to save one another, with victims lying on the cold streets, had been used unchanged to build a scene in a game.
Activision has acknowledged that real news footage was incorporated into the opening sequence. The company told Yonhap News Agency that the footage was meant to help convey the game's fictional narrative, and that it was not intended to reference or trivialise the Itaewon disaster or any other real-life tragedy.
What the publisher has not said is whether it will take the clip out. Its statement explains intent but does not answer the families' demand, so that request remains unresolved on the anniversary itself. The thing to watch is whether Activision responds directly to the council and civic groups, and whether the sequence is changed in the game as released.
Citazioni salienti
We cannot help but be appalled that the chaotic and desperate scenes of citizens performing CPR to save one another, with victims lying on the cold streets, were used unchanged to create a scene in a game.— Joint statement by the bereaved families' council and civic groups
The footage was intended to help convey the game's fictional narrative, not to reference or trivialise the Itaewon disaster or any other real-life tragedy.— Activision, paraphrased from its statement to Yonhap News Agency
Vuoi la storia completa?
Leggi l'originale su Malay Mail ↗
War & Conflict